In 2020, police were called to the Maryland home of Gamel Antonio Brown after he cut his hand on a broken mirror. His family told officers there had been no altercation. Mr. Brown showed police his bleeding hand. A responding officer even radioed that no backup was needed — just medics.
By the time medics arrived, however, police had physically struggled with Mr. Brown, tased him, and restrained him. Within the hour, he was dead. His mother, Marion Brown, still wonders how a call for help led to her son’s death.
Sadly, she is far from alone. Her son is one of 143 people killed in police encounters in Maryland between 2015 and 2023, documented in a new ACLU of Maryland database and report with key findings about these deaths, “Crisis 911”. Gamel Brown’s death illustrates one of the report’s most urgent findings: nearly half the people who lost their lives in police encounters showed signs of a medical or behavioral health crisis.
In at least 24 cases, someone had called 911 specifically for help handling a medical or mental health emergency. Eric Sopp’s mother, for example, called 911 to report that her son was suicidal. Tawon Boyd called 911 himself during a medical emergency. A motorist called 911 after seeing Deontre Dorsey have an apparent seizure while driving.
